American Idol, Top 11

I took a week off from posting about Idol, but I decided to pick it back up.

Haley Scarnato. "Tell Him." I realized last week that Haley is the only true soprano left in the competition. I actually thought she sounded okay this week, but her major problem continues to be that she is overpowered: by the band, the back-up vocals, her competition.

Chris Richardson. "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying." I thought he was really boring. I was surprised that the judges liked him as much as they did.

Stephanie Edwards. "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me." Boring again. She lost the low notes. More importantly, the band was way too loud while she was singing, drowning her out.

Blake Lewis. "It's the Time of the Season." I don't understand the judges' love of this performance. It was boring and he had a lot of trouble with the high notes in the chorus. Yet Paula thinks he can release this on an album? And Simon liked it?! I don't get it.

LaKisha Jones. "Diamonds Are Forever." And now I really don't get the judges. I thought she did a really nice job with the song; much better than everyone else thus far. But the judges don't seem to agree.

Phil Stacey. "Tobacco Road." I just don't like this guy. His voice sounded fine, but his voice isn't very interesting.

Jordin Sparks. "I Who Have Nothing." She did a great job. In addition to hitting all of her notes with power, she really seemed to put a lot of emotion behind the song (which I hadn't heard before). Last week I thought that the judges got it all wrong: I thought she was really mediocre and all over the place. But this week she was great.

Sanjaya Malakar. "You Really Got Me." Gobo asked if we could fast forward past him, which is just insanity. Isn't watching Sanjaya one of the best things about American Idol right now? And he didn't disappoint, picking yet another song that he can't come close to pulling off. Sanjaya singing the Kinks. I honestly laughed the entire time. And what was up with the seven year old in the audience crying the entire time? Was she upset that he was so terrible? That had to be it, right? He is so utterly awkward. And bad. And Paula and Randy are totally high.

Gina Glockson. "Paint It Black." I do not have high hopes for this one. And...mediocre. Is Gina really any different than Nikki McKibbin? Maybe a slightly better voice?

Chris Sligh. "She's Not There." I thought he was definitely the best of all the guys this week. It was a good song choice because it was catchy, but showcased his voice as well (even if he was a little sharp on the high notes).

Melinda Doolittle. "As Long As He Needs Me." Not surprising they have saved The One Who Simon Wants to Win until the end. But, she deserves the title, because, again, she had a great performance. However, I love that song when it is sung a little bigger and more flamboyantly. It's rare that I want an Idol contestant to oversing a song, but in this case, for the first portion, I really hoped she would have been a little larger about it.